Closable orifice for containers



Aug. 20, 1940-, L. s. HUNTER CLOSABLE ORIFIQE FOR CONTAINERS Filed July6, 1937 INVENTOR. [[0 5/7/74 HIM ff? A'ITORNE Patented Aug. 20,1940

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOSABLE ORIFICE FOR CONTAINERS ApplicationJuly 6, 1937, Serial No. 152,099

7 Claims.

My invention relates to closable orifices for containers or packages ofthe type wherein the' contents of the package are to be removed aportion at a time, the remaining contents to be left in the packagebetween removal of portions thereof, and has particular reference to arelatively simple closure member which may be repeatedly operated toopen and close an orifice in the package. I

In the packaging of certain commodities, such as finely divided orpowdered materials, it is common practice to place such products in acan or box provided with an entrance opening in the top or one of thewalls thereof, through which the contents or a portion thereof may beremoved. To protect the remaining contents in the package duringintervals between the removal of a portion thereof, a closure device may"be provided adapted to be repeatedly moved from an orifice-opening toan orifice-closing position. Howeven'after a few uses of the orificeclosure, such closures usually become so dilapidated as to fail tocompletely close the orifice and hence fail to protect the remainingcontents of the package.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a package of thecharacter described wherein an orifice closure is provided having meansfor holding the closure member snugly in orifice-closing position evenafter repeated op erations of the closure member.

Another object of my invention is to provide a package and closuretherefor of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph whereinthe closure member may be constructed inexpensively from a single stripof paper, cardboard, fiber board or other sheet material, one portion ofthe closure member being constructed as a locking tongue adapted to bereceived within a locking slot in the wall of the package to which it isattached.

Another object of my invention is to provide a closure member of thecharacter set forth in the preceding paragraph wherein a looking orholding tongue is provided upon the closure adapted to pass throughaslot formed in the wall of the package to which it is attached andprovided with an embossed portion thereon engaging the edges of the slotto hold the closure member in a predetermined orifice-closing position.

Another object of my invention is to provide a closure member of thecharacter set forth wherein the closure member is provided with anoutwardly struck or embossed portion thereof conforming in shape anddimensions with'the orifice in the wall of the package to which it isattached to at least partiallyenter the orifice to substantially sealthe same when the closure is in orifice-closing position.

Other objects and advantages of my invention 5 will .be apparent from astudy of the following specifications, read in connection with theaccompanying drawing, wherein,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of'a package or paper can andillustrating my orificeclosing device in closing position thereon;

Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view taken through the top portion or capof the package shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating the closure member in 15orifice-closing position;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but illustratingthe closure member in orifice-opening position, permitting the removalof the contents of the package through the orifice; and

.Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view similar to Figs. 2 and 3 andillustrating a modified form of closure member which may be employed inthe practice of my invention for sealing the orifice whenthe closuremember is in orificeclosing position.

Referring to the drawing, I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a package or canI, which may be constructed of paper, cardboard, fiber board or othersheet material such as sheet metal, and may have any desired shape. Theshape illustrated in Fig. 1 is that of a cylindrical paper can, theupper end of which is closed by a cap member 2, usually constructed froma flat disc of sheet material having a downwardly turned flange 3adapted to fit the exterior walls of the package or can I and to besealed thereto by suitable adhesives or in any other similar manner, as

. will be understood by those skilled in the art.

The cap member 2 is provided with an opening 40 or orifice 4 extendingthrough the cap into communication with the interior of the package orcan so that contents thereof may be poured out of the can through theorifice or opening 4. Where the can is to be employed for packagingmaterials, a portion of which will be repeatedly removed from the canuntil the entire contents are consumed, a closure member 5 should beprovided to close the orifice between intervals of pouring or removingthe contents from the package. I

I have illustrated a closure member 5 as comprising a strip of sheetmaterial, preferably having the shape illustrated in Fig. 1, whichincludes 55 a shank 8 relatively narrow and having a hinge I by which abody portion 8 may be hingedly secured thereto. In the form illustratedherein, the closure member is shown as being constructed from a strip ofpaper, cardboard or fiber board, the hinge .I being formed by a scoredline defining a line of bending so that the body portion 8 of theclosure 5 may have a hinge movement relative to the shank I. The bodyportion 8 preferably tapers outwardly from the narrow shank 6 to a widthsomewhat in excess of the width or diameter of the opening 4 so as toinsure that when the closure member is in orifice-closing position, asshown in Fig. l, considerable material of the closure member 5 willextend in overlapping relation to the material of the top 2 on all sidesof the orifice 4. The forward end 8 of the body portion 8 is preferablytapered towarda relatively narrow tongue in which is preferably formedor bent along a suitable scored line H to extend at substantiallyright-angles to the plane of the body portion 8.

The cap 2 is provided with an elongated slot 12 spaced from'the orificeor opening l4, the slot having a shape and dimensions substantiallyconforming with the width and thickness of the tongue ill so that whenthe closure member 5 is in orifice-closing position the tongue I0 may bepassed through the slot I2. The width of the slot I2 is preferably justequal to the thickness of the paper, cardboard or fiber board from whichthe closure member 5 is constructed so that by embossing or pressinga'portion it of the tongue outwardly of the plane of the tongue, aprojection or protrusion is provided thereon which will engage theunderneath surface of the cap 2 and act as a lock or holding device forholding the closure member 5 in orifice-closing position and preventingthe inadvertent opening of the closure member 5. The embossed portion orprojection of the tongue I! is preferably spaced from the lower surfaceof the body portion 8 of the closure member 5 by a distance equal to thethickness of the material from which the cap 2 is constructed so thatwhen the closure member is in closed position, as shown in Figs. 1 and2, the embossed or outwardly struck portion l3 thereof will engage theunderneath surface of the cap 2 and hold the lower surface of theclosure member 5 snugly against the upper surface of the cap 2.

However, the locking or holding portion ll of the tongue It may bereadily drawn upwardly through the slot l2 by the mere lifting of thebody portion 8 of the closure member 5 to the position shown in Fig. 3,at which position the orifice 4 is opened to permit the pouring orremoving of the contents from the can or package l. Now when asufiicient quantity of the contents has been removed the body portion 8of the closure 5 is swung downwardly on its hinge I and the tongue l0reinserted in the slot and pressed downwardly until the embossed portionor shoulder l3 again engages below the inner surface of the cap 2,holding the closure member 5 snugly in orifice-closing position.

The attachment of the closure member 8 may be made in any desired mannersuch as by stapling the same directly to the cap 2 by means of a staplel4 or the shank 6 may be secured to the upper surface of the cap 2 bysuitable adhesives.

Prior to the initial opening of the package, it may be desirable toprovide a paper seal over the orifice or opening 4 and I prefer thatsuch seal,

indicated at II, should extend not only over the orifice 4 but over theentire closure member I, holding the closure member in sealed conditionand'preventing contamination of the contents during periods of storageof the package. Upon the initial opening of the package the seal ll and3, except that the body portion la is provided with an embossed ordownwardly struck section I having a configuration and dimensionssubstantially conforming with the dimensions or diameter of the orifice4. The embossed section It preferably extends below the normal plane ofthe body portion In of the closure to so that the locking projection IIon the tongue in of the closure member, being located at a positionspaced below the normal plane of the body portion In by a distance equalto the thickness of the material from which the cap 2 is made, will holdthe closure member 5a snugly against the upper surface of the cap 2 butwill press the embossed section It downwardly into the orifice 4 to sealagainst the periphery of the orifice.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details ofconstruction shown or described herein, except as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a package, a container having a wall provided with an orificethrough which contents of the container may be removed, a closure memberfor said orifice comprising a shank secured to the wall of thecontainer, a body portion hingedly secured to the shank adapted tooverlie the orifice, a slot extending through said wall and spaced fromsaid orifice, a tongue formed upon said closure member adapted to bereceived in said slot when the body portion of said closure member is inorifice-closing position, and a projection formed upon the tongue toengage the inner surface of said wall to hold said closure member inorifice-closing position.

2. In a package, a container having a wall provided with an orificethrough which contents of the container may be removed, a closure memberfor said orifice comprising a shank secured to the wall of thecontainer, a body portion hingedly secured to the shank and adapted tooverlie the orifice, a slot extending through said wall and spaced fromsaid orifice, a tongue formed upon said closure member adapted to bereceived in said slot when the body portion of said closure member is inorifice-closing position, a projection extending laterally from saidtongue and spaced from the under surface of said body portion by adistance substantially equal to the thickness of said wall, saidprojection engaging the inner surface of said wall to hold said closuremember in orifice-closing position.

3. Ina package, a container having a wall provided with an orificethrough which contents of the container may be removed, a closure memberfor said orifice comprising a shank secured to the wall of thecontainer, a relatively fiat body portion hingedly secured to said shankand adapted to overlie the orifice, a tongue formed upon and extendingfrom said body portion at substantially right-angles to the plane ofsaid body portion, and a slot extending through said "responding to thewidth and thickness of said 7 wall, having length and width dimensionscorjection thereon adapted to pass through said slot but engageable withthe inner surface of said wall to hold said body portion inorifice-closing position.

4. In a package, a container having a wall provided with an orificethrough which contents of the container may be removed, a closure memberfor said orifice comprising a shank secured to the wall of thecontainer, a relatively fiatbodyportion hingedly secured to said shankand adapted to overlie the orifice, a tongue formed upon and extendingfrom said body portion at substantially right-angles to the plane ofsaid body portion, and a slot extending through said wall, having lengthand width dimensions corresponding to the width and thickness of saidtongue to receive said tongue when the body portion. of said closuremember is in orifice-closing position, said tongue having an embossedprojection thereon adapted to pass through said slot but engageable withthe inner surface of said wall to hold said body portion inorifice-closing position, said projection being spaced from the undersurface of said body portion by a distance substantially equal to thethickness of said wall.

5. Ina package, a container having a wall provided with an orificethrough which contents of the container may be removed, a closure memberfor said orifice comprising a relatively thin fiat strip of materialincluding a shank portion secured upon said wall at one side of theorifice, a body portion hinged to said shank portion for movement from aposition lying fiat against said wall in overlying relation with saidorifice, and

a tongue portion extending at substantially rightangles. to the plane'01 said bodyportion, a slot extending through said wall and spaced saidorifice for receiving said tongue when said body portion is disposed insaid first-named position, and means on said tongue extending laterallythereof to engage the inner surface of said wall to hold said bodyportion in said orifice-clos ing position.

6. In a package, a container havinga wall provided with an orificethrough which contents of the container may be removed, a closure memberfor said orifice comprising a relatively thin fiat strip of materialincluding a shank portion secured upon said wall at one side of theorifice, a body portion hinged to said shank portion for movement from aposition lying fiat against said wall in overlying relation with saidorifice, a tongue portion extending at substantially rightangles to theplane of said body portion, and a slot extending through said wall andspaced from said orifice for receiving said tongue when said bodyportion is disposed in said first-named position, said tongue, having anembossed line extending laterally thereacross to form projecting meansengageable with the inner surface of said wall to hold said body memberin orifice-closing position.

' angles to the plane of said body portion, and a slot extending throughsaid wall and spaced from said orifice for receiving said tongue whensaid body portion is disposed in said first-named position, said bodymember having an embossed projecting portionthereon conforming in shapeand dimensions with said orifice to be received in sealing engagement insaid orifice when said body portion is in said first-named position.

